Search results for: "Mindfulness"

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  2. What You Bring to the Meditation
     … Then, make up your mind that you’re going to stay with the breath. This requires that you bring a couple qualities of mind to this project. One is mindfulness. You have to remember not to wander off. That’s what mindfulness is: keeping in mind fact that this is where you want to stay. Other thoughts will come up, but you have to … 
  3. Calm in the Storm
    We come to a quiet place like this so that we can see our minds clearly. When we’re engaged in a lot of activities and there’s a lot of noise, a lot of disturbance around us, what’s going on in our own minds gets covered up, blotted out. Only when our emotions are really strong, or our thoughts are really necessary … 
  4. The Basic Medicine
     … The breathing is soothing the body, soothing the mind right now, so the mind feels that it can melt in with the breath. The awareness melts into the breath. They become one. However, the meditation is not just a bubble bath for the mind. There’s the healing, comforting, soothing aspect, but remember medicine comes in all sorts of forms. Some of it can … 
  5. Dhammacentric
     … These things are always true, always beneficial, and always should be kept in mind. The question is, when the Buddha talks about right mindfulness, why doesn’t he say that? After all, “mindfulness” means keeping something in mind. Why does he focus instead on keeping in mind the body in and of itself, feelings, mind states, mental qualities in and of themselves, with no … 
  6. The Buddha’s Encouragement
     … You’re here to see what is actually going on in the mind that’s creating suffering, and you’re going to have to learn how to step back from the processes in the mind in order to do that. That requires a good place to stand: this quiet spot in the mind. So, this spot where nothing seems to be happening is really … 
  7. Ready to Evacuate
     … These are the four qualities that support your strength of discernment—the discernment that realizes that wealth doesn’t lie in having lots of things or lots of different minds. Usually, the mind is divided up into lots of different things. There’s this part of the mind holding on to this, and that part of the mind holding onto that. When the mind … 
  8. On the Path of the Breath
    On the Path of the Breath February 11, 2008 Once the Buddha was extolling the advantages of breath meditation, the benefits that could be derived from keeping the breath in mind, and one of the monks said, “I already do breath meditation.” So the Buddha asked him, “What kind of breath meditation do you do?” And the monk replied, “I sit breathing, putting away … 
  9. The Open Committee
    The Open Committee March 7, 2005 The mind is like a committee with an open membership. It seems that anybody has the right to say anything at the meetings. No one ever checks credentials to see who’s coming in and with what kinds of intentions. If you sit and watch the thoughts that go through the mind for a while, you begin to … 
  10. Stick with It
     … So as the mind settles down like this, the important skill is learning how to maintain this sense of well-being and to stick with it as consistently as possible. This is where you develop the qualities of mindfulness and alertness. Mindfulness is what reminds you what to do now and also why you’re doing it. It’s not just a matter of … 
  11. Sensitivity & Strength
     … It also involves having an inquisitive state of mind, one that wants to learn new things. And here we have the opportunity to learn about our minds. This is pretty rare in the world. You look at mainstream society: People are all too willing to fill up your mind with all kinds of ideas—that you should think this, should be interested in that … 
  12. Three Perceptions
     … We’re trying to see how the mind’s quest for happiness relates to the way things behave. You always want to keep your focus here, on the mind’s quest, even when you focus on the breath. When the breath gets more and more refined, with a sense of ease filling the body, you reach a stage where the mind and the breath … 
  13. Exploring Fabrication
     … Each of those approaches to bringing the mind into balance requires a certain amount of fabrication. After all, feeling and perception have an effect on the mind, and the breath has an indirect effect on the mind through the feelings. How do you use these fabrications to gladden the mind? How do you use them to steady the mind? How do you use them … 
  14. To Strengthen the Path
     … Those things can be pleasant, but they leave their imprint on the mind. They cloud the mind. What we want is a clear mind that’s fully present right here. Now this world that we’re creating right here, inside the body, where we’re inhabiting the body fully, is going to have to be fighting against other worlds that the mind tends to … 
  15. Sensitive to Stress
     … He doesn’t even define the mind—because your sense of these things will develop as you practice. But how do you develop that sensitivity? First, get the mind into concentration and be willing to stay there. Many people get very impatient. The mind gets quiet for a little bit and they say, “Well, what’s next? When do we get to the insights … 
  16. The Observer
     … Rule number one in either case is to keep the mind on an even keel. Have a strong sense of the observer, the part of the mind that’s simply watching what’s going on, and identify as much as you can with that. Ajaan Suwat once mentioned that when he first went to stay with Ajaan Mun his mind seemed to be all … 
  17. Willing & Observing
     … We can’t just sit here and watch the mind as it wanders from this to that to the other thing, and say, “Okay, I’m learning, I’m gaining insight into impermanence and in practicing mindfulness.” That’s not what mindfulness is all about. Mindfulness means keeping certain things in mind. And some of the things you want to keep in mind are … 
  18. Introduction: Meditation as a Skill
    The purpose of the meditation is to develop the skillful qualities in the mind. It takes the same principles that we would apply to any skill—being mindful, being alert, evaluating the results of your actions and being ingenious about figuring out new ways to solve mistakes: It takes those mental qualities and applies them directly to the mind. Think about any skill that … 
  19. Perfect Breathing Isn’t the Goal
    We focus on the breath, we work with the breath, to give the mind a good place to settle down. If you want to be here for a long time, there has to be a sense of well-being. You try to create that well-being by focusing on the breath, by adjusting the way you breathe, by adjusting your perceptions of the breath … 
  20. The Dhamma Channel
     … For the mind to see the refinements of the breath, the mind has to get very refined as well. So think of your awareness being refined right here. Then, when there’s less interference from the mind, you’ll find there’s less interference from the breath. Things grow very, very still, and you can see things clearly. The slightest movement that comes up … 
  21. Evaluation
     … To get the mind to settle down snugly with the breath, you have to survey what’s going on. This is part of the reflection: Is the mind snug with the breath? Is the breath snug with the mind? Are you ready to settle down? Ajaan Lee emphasizes the evaluation of the breath, but you also have to evaluate the state of your mind … 
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